


Troubled Minds, Troubled Hearts

by Gothleaf



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-23 21:43:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20233024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothleaf/pseuds/Gothleaf
Summary: Simon felt like crying when he realized what was happening. He watched in horror as curly thin letters began to appear across his arms, creating the phase Sour Cherry Scones. Most wizards were overly ecstatic when their soulmate began to make contact, but not Simon. Having a soulmate would shatter his life.





	Troubled Minds, Troubled Hearts

Simon felt like crying when he realized what was happening. He watched in horror as curly thin letters began to appear across his arms, creating the phase Sour Cherry Scones. Most wizards were overly ecstatic when their soulmate began to make contact, but not Simon. Having a soulmate would shatter his life.

It took a long while for Simon to grasp soulmates. It was months after he had gotten to Watford before Simon learned about them. One day, after a long day of learning magic, Simon made his way to the Ancient Yew Trees. There was a pleasant breeze through the air and Simon couldn’t stop himself from smiling. He would never had thought he would find happiness at a school. He took his time crossing the drawbridge, watching the merwolves swim in the river, before catching sight of Penny sitting under a tree. He sucked in a breath and sped up. Another thing he would have never thought of finding: a friend.

Penny hadn’t noticed his arrival. She was too eraped with writing on her leg with a red marker. Simon watched a moment, wondering if she was performing a spell (he knew better now than interrupting someone casting a spell). Eventually, boredom got the best of him.

“What are you doing?” 

Penny jumped and scowled at him. “Your late. And don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Sorry, Why are you writing on yourself?” He sat down next to her, bumping shoulders with her.

She huffed and the tension left. She rolled her eyes. “I was just talking to my soulmate. His name is Micah.”

“Soulmate? Your eleven how are you so sure he is your soulmate?” Simon asked, doubtfully. He would have never pegged Penny as the type of girl to fall in love with a boy so quickly. 

“Of course I know he’s my--Wait.” Penny sighed and gave him a pitying look. Simon squirmed a little. He hated the feeling when other wizards pitied him for not knowing about magic. It’s not his fault he grew up in the system away from magic. “I forgot you don’t know much about wizards.”

“Every wizard has a soulmate. Well, my dad thinks that everyone has a soulmate, but wizards have the ability to contact theirs.” She pointed to her leg and Simon could see the sentences that were written in red and new sentences that began to show up on her skin in blue. “Most wizards can contact their soulmate by writing on their skin. It shows up on their soulmates too. That’s how I met Micah. We started talking when I was four and drew a flower on my arm. He is a wizard in America. We chat every now and then”

“Amazing! I want to try.” Simon snatched the maker out of her hand and rolled up his sleeve. On his wrist, he wrote hello and waited. And waited.

“Sometimes it doesn’t work.” Penny said in a low voice. “It isn’t an exact science. Some wizards gain the ability after a certain age. Or a spell has been cast to stop the messages. Or the other person is ignoring you for some reasons. Or--” Penny cut herself off.

“Or what?” Simon asked. No words showed up and Simon could feel his disappointment swell. 

“They could be dead.” Penny said quietly. 

Simon started down at his wrist and felt a tear fall from his eyes. 

Simon shook the memory out of his head and focused on his arm. The words were still there and so were red marks were his other hand was gripping it tightly. He loosened his grip and took a deep breath. 

His soulmate was out there. A person he was destined to be with was somewhere out in the world, looking for sour cherry scones. Simon loved sour cherry scones. For a second, Simon could see how his soulmate and him were connected if they loved the same food. He burned that thought the moment it came up and felt awful. What was he going to tell Baz?

One of the reasons Baz and him worked as a couple was because they both believed they didn’t have a soulmate. Simon had long given up hope having a destined lover after the umpteenth time of writing on himself and not receiving an answer. Baz told him straightforwardly that he couldn’t have a soulmate because he died when he became a vampire. Idiot. Don’t you know anything about soulmates. You have to be alive to have one, Baz said and then he kissed Simon. 

What was he going to do? What should he do? He loved Baz. He couldn’t imagine leaving him for anyone. However, soulmates were called soulmates for a reason. They matched the others soul. They were destined or something. Could Simon and Baz avoid destiny? 

“Sir? Are you okay?” The checkout lady asked him.

Simon realized how weird he looked, suddenly staring at his arm like he was going to have a panic attack, in the middle of checking out at the grocery store. The checkout lady looked weary at him, like she wasn’t sure to call an ambulance or an asylum. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He winced as his voice cracking. He paid and grabbed his bags as soon as he could. 

Simon threw the groceries in the backseat, not caring about them anymore. He sat at the wheel not starting the car. He glanced at his arm. It shouldn’t even be possible that he had the ability to contact his soulmate. He was a Normal. 

When he beaten or fixed the Humdrum, he gave the Humdrum his magic. All of it. He became a Normal, except for he still had dragon wings and a tail. Since he had no magic, he shouldn’t be able to communicate to his soulmate through writing. 

Simon didn’t know how long he stayed in the parking lot. He kept trying to make heads or tails of what was happening. Suddenly, I’m not a vampire began playing from his pocket and Simon jumped. He snatched it out and stared at the caller I.D. It was Baz. He bit his lip and debated about if he should answer. He decided that if he didn’t, Baz would probably be in a sour mood. At the last moment, he answered.

“Took you long enough, Snow.” Baz said, sounding irritable. 

“Sorry. What’s your problem?” Simon shot back.

“You were supposed to be here an hour ago.”

An hour? Simon checked the time and inwardly groan. He was late. 

“I’ll be there soon.” He promised.

“You better or no cuddling during the movie.”

Usually that threat would cause Simon to rush, but not now. He was too filled with dread to worry about something like cuddling.

“Alright,” Simon said lamely. “Bye.”

He hung up and quickly dialed another number.

“What’s wrong?” Penny said. Simon could visualize her already preparing for another threat. Old habits, Simon thought.

“I need your help. I have a soulmate.” Simon spit out.

“What?”

Simon took another deep breath. He vaguely noticed that his wings and tail were becoming more visible. The invisibility spell must be wearing off. 

“I was getting some groceries for Baz since I lost a bet. Suddenly, as I was checking out, I felt this tingling sensation on my arm. When I rolled up my sleeve, I saw the words ‘Sour Cherry Scones’ appear on my arm. For a moment, I felt someone's presence. I don’t know how to describe it. What do I do?”

“Well, Shit.” Penny said after a moment. “I would usually say congratulations, but your with Baz and vampires can’t have soulmates.”

“I know. What do I say to him? Should I tell him?” Simon watched the sun set and felt bad for Baz. How could Simon put him in this situation?

“Tell him the truth and yes you should tell him. You can’t keep something like this a secret. Just go up to him the next time you see him and tell him.”

“Okay.” Simon agreed. This was officially going to be the worst two year anniversary date ever. 

“Tell me how it goes afterwards.”

“Will do.” 

Simon hung up and started the car. On the way to their apartment, Simon practiced what he was about to say. He would go into the apartment, banter a bit with Baz about why he was late, and then, come out about the soulmate. Baz would either break up with him or they would ignore it. He couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for his soulmate. Whoever they are probably didn’t deserve being ignored by Simon, but Baz was Simon’s everything.

Simon made it to their apartment two hours after he was originally supposed to. He walked up the stairs slowly, trying to find the right words. He sucked at speaking under stressed and Baz was not above pointing it out to him. 

He knocked once before the door swung open. Baz stood in the doorway, arms crossed, looking pissed. Beneath the anger, Simon could see worryness. He wondered how long Baz had been waiting at the door for him, worrying over him. Tears began to well behind his eyes and Baz’s anger withdrew. Before he could ask Simon what was wrong, Simon lunged forward and kissed him. 

That was something Simon loved about Baz: being able to kiss him. They were always bantering or snapping at each other, but neither could hide their love when they were kissing. Simon loved Baz. And Baz loved him.

Baz pulled away from the kiss and pulled him inside. He shut the door and turned to him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Soulmate wrote my arm.” Simon said, hurriedly and stupidly. 

Baz raised one eyebrow. “What?”

“As I was checking out, my soulmate wrote on my arm.” He pulled up his sleeve, revealing his arm.

Baz glanced at his arm. “Are you drunk, Snow?”

“Huh?” Simon looked down and saw that the words were gone. His arm was blank. “They were there. I swear it. My soulmate wrote ‘sour cherry scones’ on my arm.”

Baz froze and swallowed. Simon went quiet. After a minute, he reached out for Baz, but he walked away. Simon followed him.

They went into the kitchen and Baz turned to Simon. “Are you sure it was your soulmate? And the words ‘sour cheery scones’?”

“Yes I am. What should we do?” Simon’s heart was beating faster.

“This shouldn’t be possible…” Baz muttered to himself. He walked over to counter and grabbed a pen. He turned his back to Simon. Simon felt a tingling sensation on the back of his left hand and looked. Letter after letter, Simon appeared on his arm.

Baz turned around and stared at Simon’s hand. Simon could see his name written on Baz’s hand. He put two and two together and a smile grew on his face.

“Your my soulmate!” he said, happily.

Baz looked shocked. This was one of the few times Simon ever saw his expression falter. 

“This shouldn’t be possible.” Baz said out loud. “I’m dead. I died years ago.”

“I never believed you were dead.” Simon said, grabbing Baz’s arms. “Also, I’m a Normal now so how come it works for me? Penny once said that everyone has a soulmate and it’s not an exact science, so why should those two things matter.” He kissed Baz. “You’re my soulmate, Tryannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch.” He kissed Baz again.

Baz shook his head and pushed Simon away gently. He was smiling too. “I can’t believe that I was always destined to be with you, the Chosen One.”

“We’re soulmates.” Simon repeated. He couldn’t help it. He felt wonderful now. He felt like shouting it.

Baz snorted. “Don’t think that just because we suddenly know that, I’m going to forgive you for being late. No cuddling. Now go get those groceries.”

Simon whined, but gave up. “Fine, can you at least spell my wings and tail invisible.”

Baz took mercy on him, pulled out his wand and said There’s Nothing to See Here. Simon groaned at the spell. He wasn’t fond of that one. Baz smirked. “You better hurry up. I’m starting the movie.”

Simon was out the door, before Baz could press play.

A bit later, Simon and Baz were cuddling on the couch. Either Baz took mercy on Simon or Simon was getting better with his puppy eyes, because it only took a few minutes before Baz relented. He took the spell off Simon’s wings and tail and curled up on Simon’s side. Simon wrapped a wing around him and allowed his tail to wrap around Baz’s leg. They were comfortable.

“Hey,” Simon whispered.

“Shhhh,” Baz shushed him.

Simon continued anyway. “Why did you write ‘sour cherry scones’ on yourself?”

“Oh. I was busy tidying up, but I didn’t want to forget to make your favorite snack to surprise you tonight.” Baz smiled.

Simon gasped. “You made me sour cherry scones?” He looked around the apartment, trying to find them.

“I did.” Baz said with a chuckle. “But you were late so I threw them away.”

“Your. Evil.” Simon said, horrified. 

“Don’t be late next time.” Baz cuddled up closed, still smirking.

“Oh, yeah?” Simon jumped off the couch, ran to the kitchen and grabbed a pen. Quickly, he started to dicks on his arm.

“Stop that, Snow!” Baz shouted, running after him.

“Never.”

They fell asleep that night in each other's arms. Both still overjoyed at knowing the other was their soulmate and frustrated that they were covered from head to toe in drawings of dicks and other crude things.


End file.
